Clontarf Share News (CLON)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Sports Direct International founder and deputy Chairman Mike Ashley has sold a 4% stake in the firm, causing a sharp fall in its share price, just days after the sports goods retailer's shareholders again rejected a proposal to pay him a bonus.

Ashley's investment vehicle sold 24 million shares at 850 pence each through Goldman Sachs, raising GBP204 million and leaving him with a 57.7% stake in the business.

People familiar with the situation told the Financial Times that the transaction was unrelated to Sports Direct's recent acquisition of an 11% stake in department store operator House of Fraser, and suggested it was part of a programme of regular share sales and was designed to increase liquidity in the stock.

Sports Direct shares were down 11% Thursday, by far the biggest decliner on the FTSE 100. The stock had risen above 900 pence last week for the first time since it started trading.

Last week, Sports Direct shareholders rejected a GBP72.5 million share bonus package for Ashley, the third time that an attempt to reward the founder has been rejected. He has not been paid for his executive role at the company since the business was listed in February 2007.

Separately, Sports Direct bought an 11% stake in House of Fraser, a person familiar with the situation told Alliance News Monday, injecting itself into the agreed takeover of the British high street retail chain by Chinese conglomerate Sanpower Group Co Ltd.

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FTSE 100: Down 0.9% at 6,565.32
FTSE 250: Down 1.7% at 15,993.50
AIM ALL-SHARE: Down 1.2% at 839.67
GBP-USD: Up at 1.6709
EUR-USD: Up at 1.3775
GOLD: Up at USD1,311.61 an ounce
OIL (Brent): Up at USD106.30 a barrel

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Key UK Corporate News

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FTSE 100: Rolls-Royce has won a GBP17 million contract to deliver deck machinery and engines for an arctic anchor handling tug supply vessel to be built by Vard Group AS for Bourbon Offshore Norway. It also said it has started assembling the first higher-thrust version of the Trent XWB jet engine, which will exclusively power the Airbus A350-1000 aircraft. BT has poached British Sky Broadcasting long-time executive Delia Bushell to head up its television division, The Guardian reported. Barclays has reached a settlement with Guardian Care Homes ahead of a court case that was being seen as the measure of whether customers might take the legal route against banks over the manipulation of the Libor benchmark rate, Reuters reported.

FTSE 250: Ferrexpo's total pellet production rose 10% to 2.8 million tonnes in the first quarter of 2014, with its own production up 9.2% and third-party material up 55.2%. The proportion of higher grade pellets produced increased to 1.4 million tonnes, from 1.0 million tonnes. Victrex said sales volumes were up 14% in the first half of its financial year, after sales accelerated more than it had expected during the second quarter. Sales had been up 6% in the first quarter. Student accommodation provider The Unite Group said the value of its UNITE UK Student Accommodation Fund has increased to GBP853.6 million at the of March compared with GBP727.2 million in December.

AIM All-Share: Legendary Investments is a big gainer after it increased its stake in investee company Virtual Stock Holdings Ltd, which raised GBP525,000 through an oversubscribed equity issuance to accelerate its growth in the retail sector after recent contract wins and also to build opportunities in other sectors. It said the transaction places a GBP25.4 million post money value on VSHL. In aggregate, Legendary's equity, warrant and option interest in VSHL has risen to 5.6%, from 5.0%. Clontarf Energy and Petrel Resources are doing well after the High Court of Ghana granted their application for an interlocutory injunction and also an interim order to protect their property rights at the Ghana Tano 2A Block. Rethink Group is another big gainer after it swung to a full-year pretax profit, driven by increased revenue and lower administrative costs. SnackTime is up after it said it expects its results for its recent financial year to be in line with market expectations. Oilex is up after it moved another step closer to production at its Cambay-77H well in India after successfully completing setting and cementing its next casing at roughly 1,653 measured depth. SKIL Ports & Logistics is also up after it has closed a syndicated debt facility that will fund the building of its ports and logistics facility in Karanja, NaviMumbai, India. It said the INR4.80 billion facility has been provided by four Indian public sector banks for a ten-year term, with interest payable at the banks' base rates, plus a range of 3.0% to 3.55% a year. Sterling Energy is a big faller after it said its Bamboo-1 well at the Ntem Concession, offshore Cameroon, was plugged and abandoned after it reached total depth and failed to find commercial levels of oil and gas.

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Top Economics And General

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UK industrial production grew more-than-expected in February, driven by a strong contribution from oil and gas extraction. Industrial production grew 0.9% in February from month ago, when it remained flat, the Office for National Statistics said. Manufacturing output climbed 1%, which was faster than the 0.3% rise seen in January. Economists had forecast output to grow by 0.3% again in February. The annual increase in industrial production slowed marginally to 2.7% in February from 2.8% in January. Meanwhile, manufacturing output grew at a faster pace of 3.8% annually after rising 3.2% a month ago.
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The UK service sector exports rose to an all-time high in the first quarter, latest Quarterly Economic Survey from the British Chambers of Commerce showed. The survey provided further evidence that the economy is continuing to grow, with results showing many key manufacturing balances at record levels and exports orders and sales in services at new highs.
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Permanent salaries in the UK rose at the fastest pace in nearly six years during March, while temporary pay growth eased, Markit Economics said, citing the latest Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG Report on Jobs. Starting salaries for those in permanent jobs grew at the fastest pace since July 2007, the survey said. However, the pay of temporary/contract staff rose at the slowest rate in five months.
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New accounting standards being adopted by the UK Office of National Statistics will count future pension rights as if they were present income, a move expected to instantly turn the UK into a nation of savers, according to the Telegraph and other UK press. The new standards, which are the first such reforms for 15 years and will take effect from September, are expected to boost the size of the British economy, increase the amount of public debt and raise the savings ratio in the country. As a result of the changes, the ONS could revise up growth in 2012 and 2013.
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Ukrainian security forces raided a government building in the eastern city of Kharkiv that had been occupied by pro-Russia demonstrators and arrested some 70 people, officials said. No shots were fired, the news portal hromadske.tv reported. Ukraine's acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said the city centre, where demonstrators had gathered, was now cordoned off. The acting Ukrainian president announced a day earlier that "anti-terror" operations were being launched in response to a wave of protests in cities across the Russian-speaking east of the country.
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The EU's top court rejected an EU law that requires telecommunications companies to log private data for law enforcement purposes, arguing that it breaches citizens' fundamental rights. The so-called Data Retention Directive was adopted as part of anti-terrorism measures in 2006, following attacks in London and Madrid. It specifies that firms must save data for a period of up to two years, calling on member states to implement the necessary laws.
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The Bank of Japan left its monetary policy unchanged and maintained its upbeat economic outlook even after the government raised the sales tax this month for the first time since 1997. The Policy Board on Tuesday decided to continue to increase the monetary base at an annual pace of about JPY60-JPY70 trillion. Japan's economy has continued to recover moderately as a trend, albeit with some fluctuations due to the consumption tax hike, the bank said in a statement.
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Afternoon Watchlist (all times British Summer Time)

13:55 US Redbook index
13:55 US Redbook index
15:00 UK NIESR GDP Estimate
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Wednesday's Key UK Corporate Events

UK Mail Group Trading Statement
Centamin Q1 Production Results
WS Atkins Trading Update
Evraz Full Year Results
Volex Group Trading statement
Bwin.party digital Entertainment Interim Management Statement
Prezzo Full Year Results

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Wednesday's Key Economic Events (all times British Summer Time)

00:01 UK BRC Shop Price Index
06:00 Japan BoJ Monthly Economic Survey
07:00 Germany Trade Balance
09:30 UK Trade Balance
12:00 US MBA Mortgage Applications
15:00 US Wholesale Inventories
15:30 US EIA Crude Oil Stocks change
19:00 US FOMC Minutes
20:30 US Fed's Evans Speech

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By Steve McGrath; steve.mcgrath@alliancenews.com; @stevemcgrath1

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